


Adopted By All Elements

by Aaronna



Series: Soldier of Healing [5]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: (duh), Aang doesn't think things through, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But of sort of, Character Study, Episode: s01e15 Bato of the Water Tribe rewrite, Family Feels, Feels, Gen, Herbalist Zuko (Avatar), Inspired by MuffinLance's Tumblr page, Miyuki approves, No beta: we die like men, Sexually Confused Sokka, Spirit gets a new family, Spirit is a kid and not your dad Aang, Zhao is a jerk, if he thinks at all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:42:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26575438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaronna/pseuds/Aaronna
Summary: Herbalist!Zuko AU - Episode: Bato of the Water Tribe rewrite.Spirit is pretty much Aang's conscience. Also, he he was adopted, again.
Relationships: Spirit & Aang (Avatar), Spirit & Bato (Avatar), Spirit & Katara (Avatar), Spirit & Sokka (Avatar), Spirit & The Gaang
Series: Soldier of Healing [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1910278
Comments: 54
Kudos: 632





	Adopted By All Elements

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts).



> I thought I posted this already... Oops.
> 
> Also, let me know if I am missing some tags.

Two days. He was heading home in two day whether or not Bato got the message he was expecting from his chief. Two days until he gave up another person he cared about to go back to his mentors who he also cared for.

Spirit wished he could take Bato back with him, but it would never work. He was a fighter, he was meant to be on the sea with his people, not trapped on land on the doorstep of a Fire Nation fortress. The same was true of the Herbalist and Miyuki, taking Earth out on the seas would be torture. He decided to fully enjoy his last couple days with his pseudo-uncle to the fullest. Fishing, cooking, light sparring (Bato was still recovering after all), and hair brushing 

That last thing had started out with a few tangles from the late autumn wind that became a knotted mess by the end of their spar. Spirit hadn't thought it would take him that long to brush it out, but he must have taken too long, because Bato had burst into the room looking worried, but ended up on the floor laughing. That was when the hair care time started. Now, it was a fun part of their day.

Spirit had finished making the second to last dinner the two would share and was waiting for the man to return from his trek to his boat so they could eat and get to his messy hair when Bato returned with three familiar faces. There went his time with the warrior. After all, family came before the healer you met less than a moon ago.

'(•V•)'

Bato had been so excited to see the kids that he had forgotten for a moment about Spirit. There was hurt and resigned sadness in those golden eyes as the kids entered the room. Before the warrior could say anything, the boy was gone, like smoke on the wind. He could have kicked himself. 

Then the three of them managed to run off the Avatar too, which bothered Bato less than what happened with Spirit. He couldn't just leave his niece and nephew to go apologize to the other two, but he did regret asking them to come with him when Hakoda sent word. They couldn't for the same reason he couldn't take Spirit. They had other duties.

When he woke the next morning, he hadn't predicted breakfast already bubbling, a letter and map from the chief, and a sheepish looking airbender helping untangle the mess Spirit's hair had ended up in. Somehow they got those inky locks smoothed out before the congee could scald and the sleepy siblings got up. The look on those two's faces was priceless when they saw who was ladling out the rice porridge.

Sokka opened and closed his mouth while unintelligible sounds spilled out, which clearly worried the healer in Spirit. Katara was asking a million questions with words of thanks sprinkled throughout, which caused a slight blush on fair cheeks. Based on what he had heard from the young healer, the three of them hadn't really talked last time since the kids had been sick and Spirit had needed to get home before the Fire Admiral came after him again. 

Bato was a little surprised that the two of them hadn't gotten upset that there was someone from the Fire Nation here. The kid must have left a good impression on them if Katara was trying to befriend Spirit and Sokka seemed at a loss for words. That was all he really needed to invite his almost-nephew to join them in the improvised ice dodging ceremony.

The rock dodging itself went great, the truths revealed afterwards, not so much. Spirit and Katara shared a grin at sharing the mark of the brave, but Aang rejected the mark of the trusted. They quickly found out that the airbender had tried to hide the map earlier, but he had been forced to give the healer the map when he accidentally dropped it in the courtyard.

The fight that followed ended with a strangled whimper from Spirit as Sokka and Katara tried to leave. The haunted look on the boy's face made them all freeze. It was something none of them had expected and all wanted to wash away.

It was clear Spirit was fighting tears as they escorted him back to the abbey, but they didn't get to find out what had set him off. When he finally calmed down, he fell asleep on Bato's shoulder. They would have let him sleep, but Mother Superior came to warn them of an approaching danger.

Bato had hoped to pull Sokka aside to talk to him about having been left alone, but he didn't have that luxury now as they had very little time to prepare before a massive creature ridden by two figures charged in. One was a woman who made a lewd comment about her companion, a middle-aged firebender, and Katara. A hiss came from the healer as the ashmaker and Spirit locked eyes.

The golden eyed boy Bato knew was replaced by a child soldier who fought like a hungry wolf against a tiger shark. The names that the ashmaker called Spirit made the watertribe warrior's blood boil. There was no doubt in his mind, this was Admiral Zhao, the man who gave the boy a blackeye while he was trying to save Sokka and Katara from their fever. If the Avatar hadn't made them all promise not to kill anyone and he hadn't been hit by that barbed tongue, that man would be dead.

While Spirit and Aang kept Zhao busy, Sokka worked out a way to take out the beast that was paralyzing people. After that, the fight ended pretty quickly and all five of them ended up on the air bison's back. It seemed the sisters had seen this coming and had loaded all their gear and supplies in the saddle before the fighting started.

They travelled a fair distance before they landed to work out their next move. Aang needed to get to the North Pole to find a waterbending master, Bato needed to get back to the fleet, and it was too dangerous for Spirit to go back home now that Zhao knew he was helping the Avatar. Sokka and Katara made it clear they were sticking to their plan to go with the airbender, so that just left Spirit. 

The boy was a bit of a mess. His green and white robe was scorched and stained by the perfumes he had been doused in, his hair was wet and matted from the ceremony, impromptu nap, the fight, the fragrance bath, and then the ride here, and he looked like he was about to fall over. Alright, maybe a complete mess, but no one could blame him.

When Aang asked him to join them, Spirit told them he couldn't because he was a firebender. The clearing was silent as they all processed that revelation. Bato was surprised that he didn't care about that. Thankfully, the others seemed to feel the same way.

Aang asked if that was why the abbey didn't catch fire and received a flinching nod. Katara asked if he had ever used his fire to hurt others which was how they found out how Spirit got his scar. Sokka was the one who started the hug, but they all joined it. If they cried, it was fine because they were all crying. 

They spent one last night together, talking, sharing stories and food, and generally being a family. In the morning, they went their separate ways with smiles. It wasn't until the kids flew out of sight that it dawned on Bato that Spirit now had family from all four nations.

He was still chuckling over that when he rejoined the fleet. He just hoped Hakoda was ready to have two new members of the family. 

'(•V•)'

Aang had thought he had seen someone else in Bato's room when they entered, but he had forgotten about that after a single taste of sea prunes. He saw someone near the abbey gate as he moved back to the beach campsite, but he had assumed it was one of the sisters. When Spirit appeared out of seemingly nowhere right after Mother Superior lectured him on littering, he wasn't as surprised as he should have been. 

After bombarding the healer with questions, he found out Spirit had been sent here to help Bato heal. Then Spirit asked to see the crumpled paper. They ended up having a long conversation about trust, insecurities, and honesty. 

At some point, the crushed paper was smoothed out and they moved inside so Spirit could check on breakfast. As he sat by the pot, the healer pulled out a comb and started fighting the tangles that filled his knee length hair. Aang offered to help, and when Bato got up, he did too. They finished just in time for the Sokka and Katara to wake from the smell of vegetable congee.

Sokka sounded like a beached whale-walrus as he tried to find words and his mouth kept opening and closing. It was kinda funny. It was almost like last time they saw Spirit! Only this time Sokka knew the healer was Fire Nation. 

Katara asked about cooking, then thanked Spirit for cooking, asked about his hair, then thanked him for keeping Aang out of trouble (Hey!), asked about his blackeye and how she was glad it healed fine, then thanked him for helping them. It continued like this for a while. It seemed this whole thing was amusing Bato, who was grinning at them.

They were still eating when the injured man brought up the watertribe coming of age ceremony. Bato wanted all four of them to do it together, with Sokka in charge. The siblings started talking over each other excitedly and Spirit looked shocked to be included, a feeling Aang shared. It was nice to have someone else who felt like an outsider to bond with while the other three were too in their element to realize not everyone knew what they were talking about. 

Overall, avoiding the rocks wasn't that hard until the end, but his and Katara's bending took care of that. They all grinned at each other as they moved back to shore. He had thought that was the end of it, but then Bato started setting up the second half of the ritual. 

Sokka was wise, so his mark was perfect. Spirit and Katara were two of the bravest people he knew, so he completely agreed with their marks. The mark of the trusted however, he wasn't worthy of that.

He told them the truth about the message and Sokka started yelling while Katara looked ashamed of him. When they started leaving, Spirit made the most heartbreaking sound Aang had ever heard. He looked like a ghost had just manifested in front of him and trapped him in its clutches.

None of them could fight each other when Spirit needed them. They took him back to the abbey and while Bato tried to calm him down, the three of them talked. Aang explained how he had lost everything and then got them only for it to seem like he was going to lose them too. He hadn't really thought it through until that morning, before breakfast, when he explained it all to Spirit. They forgave him and explained that they had never planned on abandoning them.

By the time they worked that out, Spirit was asleep. He looked much younger that way and more inhuman. It was hard to imagine he was only a little older than Sokka, yet he seemed so grown up.

Sadly, the boy didn't get to rest long because there were people coming and the sisters said at least one was in a Fire Nation uniform. They made plans, but Aang forgot them the moment that man made Spirit hiss like a territorial pygmy puma. The fighting was mostly Spirit and Aang keeping the scary sideburn guy from lighting the whole abbey on fire while Appa tried to stop the shirshu from getting them. Bato got hit early on but the nuns got him up right after Appa stopped being able to fight. 

The wall of perfume went through and it was over. Aang got Spirit in the saddle while Sokka grabbed Bato. The smell had Appa ready to go and someone had loaded all their stuff already, so they got as far from the abbey as they could before the venom started to slow the bison down. Not wanting to push Appa too far, they landed.

They talked about where they were going from here, and it came down to Spirit not being able to go home without putting himself and his guardian in danger from Zhao, the man who had chased them since they first reached the Earth Kingdom and was the man who took the healer's supply bag and punched him in the eye. He could go with Bato to join the watertribe fleet, hide out in the Earth Kingdom, or go with them to the North Pole. Yellow eyes looked at each of them sadly before saying he couldn't do any of those because he was a firebender. 

So much about Spirit and the things that happened around him suddenly made sense. Like how the message went from wrinkled and crumpled to only mildly creased. How the porridge hadn't burned while they were working on untangling his hair. And most importantly, why Zhao's wildly thrown flames never caught anything on fire.

When he asked, just to verify it had been Spirit, he received a nod that looked like he was expecting a beating. Katara asked if he ever hurt anyone with his fire, they got a heart wrenching story about a boy thrown into a trap only he really knew was coming, about the betrayal of the Fire Lord against his own soldiers, a tale of swords and flames, of selfless healing and a brand made in pain. If Aang hadn't cared for Spirit before, he definitely did now.

Sokka beat him to the hug, but he was only a moment behind him. They all ended up in a group hug as they cried for various reasons, like being thankful for the sweet, kind firebender, who had given up his home and people once and was about to do it again to protect those he cared about. 

They set up camp after that hug. Well, Sokka put up the tents, Katara cooked, Bato worked on the ferret-rat nests that had formed in Spirit's hair, while the Firebender kept the fire going steady. Aang spent most of the time checking Appa for injuries from the fight, but there were only small knicks from the shirshu's tongue.

The next morning, goodbyes were said with smiles as they parted ways. Aang wasn't sure what the future held, but he did know he was going to face it with his family. Katara, Sokka, and now Spirit by his side. 

'(•V•)'

Katara couldn't contain how happy she was to see Spirit again. She knew she rambled, but it got a blush out of the boy, so she didn't care. After that everything fell into place. Spirit was going to join them in the Ice Dodging! That was something only family and friends as close as family did together. All Sokka had to do was succeed and they would have the healer as a cousin! 

Turned out, dodging rocks in the water was a lot easier than avoiding Zhao's ship while it shot fire at them. It only took a little bending on her and Aang's part and they were done. It was kind of sad that it was over so soon, but they got a grin from Spirit, so it wasn't too bad. Then came the time for them to get their markings.

She shared a grin with her friend when they both got bravery as their marks. She was so excited that she missed what Aang got until he said he couldn't accept it. She saw the pained look on Spirit's face, a clear sign he knew what this was about, right before she heard what Aang had tried to do.

She was hurt. She had given up the chance to see her father for him, but he still hid the map from them. That was Bato's only way back. IShe couldn't look at him because it was too painful. As she followed Sokka as he stomped away, she felt her pain in a noise coming from her new cousin.

He was shaking and even paler than usual. His eyes were distant, like he was rewatching the past. At that moment, Katara wanted to go back in time and steal young Spirit before the bad things had happened to him. 

The look on his face was so similar to the one her father and Bato had when they came out of the tent that day. It was the face of someone who had lost people they cared deeply for. Spirit was reminded of that loss when she and Sokka turned away from Aang. Whoever he was remembering had left and never come back.

Katara knew the kind of pain Spirit was going through, so she helped Bato guide him back to the abbey while the other two impersonated fish out of water. She let the man who was practically her uncle soothe the boy she had chosen as her cousin while she mended her relationship with the airbender. 

She had never realized how much worry and stress Spirit held in his face until it was wiped away by sleep. He looked so different that way. Kinder, foreign, and childish. He looked like one of those people statues were made for, like Avatar Kyoshi or that woman they had in the Airtemple. She never lost that realisation as they fought Zhao. She used it to fuel her as she saw the peacefulness on that fair face turn animalistic. When they won, she tried to imagine what she could do to coax that calm look back onto his face as they fled the area.

She didn't understand why Spirit looked so guilty until he admitted he was a firebender. Memories of her mother's death and the destruction Zhao caused flashed through her mind, but the gentle soul she had been bonding with didn't belong in the same category as those two, especially after he admitted he had been keeping the fires in check.

Her question seemed harmless to her at the time, but hearing about what he had been through, she knew she had been wrong. That urge to steal his past self returned as she realized his scar was the least of his pain from that event. He had watched as his people died all around him and he did what he could, but it would never be enough. She was familiar with that feeling.

It was a little surprising that Sokka started the hug, given his hesitation to get too close to Spirit. Aang joined in a breath later and Bato was right on his heels. She may have been the last to join the hug, but that was because she wanted to hug all of them instead of being hugged.

That night while she cooked, she found what she was searching for. As Bato combed out the mess Spirit's hair had ended up in, the boy smiled softly and all the stress fell from his face. She should have known he would enjoy having help with his hair. She had enjoyed her mother and grangran helping, so it wasn't shocking.

The following day started great. She cooked breakfast with Spirit and the smell was enough to wake Sokka without the usual grumbling. Bato gave his hair tie away so knee length hair wouldn't billow when they started flying. It was with smiles and laughter that they parted ways instead of angry words and hurt feelings.

But then again, they were family. You didn't stay mad at them after heart to hearts like they had all had. Besides, they'd see each other again soon.

'(•V•)'

Sokka hadn't been sure how he felt about Spirit being there the morning after being reunited with Bato. His body was still confused, but it wasn't as bad as when he was sick. He wasn't sure if his reluctance towards the fire nation boy was because of the dress thing or the whole kind of an ashmaker bit.

He had feelings for Spirit, but he wasn't sure about those either. It wasn't sibling-ish like him and Katara or buddy-like as it was with him and Aang or even attraction like with Suki. Ally didn't fit, neither did acquaintance, he had never really had friends, so he wasn't sure if they were that close. 

When the guy freaked out about them leaving Aang, it pulled at something deep in Sokka's chest. One mangled sound and a far away and horrified look was all it took to get them all to make up. After that, he knew he was closer than he had thought. 

Brothers In Arms was the description he had during the fight. He could see the determination in those gold eyes as he fought like a mother tiger shark defending her cubs. He really wanted to see those eyes behind wolf war paint.

When Spirit said he was a firebender, Sokka wanted to scream in denial. The Aang pointed out how it was because of the guy's bending that the place didn't burn like Kyoshi Island had. His mind calmed down a bit after the nod, but then Katara had to go and make Spirit relive his past, which involved tears by the way! Sokka was bad with those!

He definitely didn't hate the guy, love was too strong of a word, but he certainly cared about him. He understood the feelings the dude felt, because he had felt them too. So what if he flung himself onto Spirit for a comforting hug, the others joining in, so it wasn't weird or anything. 

In a way, having Spirit come with them north took away the sting of not getting to see their dad and being separated from Bato again. Was he a little jealous that he wasn't the one who thought to give the guy something to tie his hair back with? Maybe, but it was Bato, not Dad. 

Huh. Cousin fit pretty good. It wasn't perfect, but it was a start.

'(•V•)'

Spirit had not expected the Avatar to leave the meal so early, so they almost ran into each other when the airbender left the abbey and headed in the direction of the beach. He should have known the kid would get in trouble. Hiding letters containing maps? Was the airbender really that self centered?

After a talk, Spirit saw it was purely selfish, per se, but he understood where the 12-year-old was coming from. If he could have stopped Lu Ten from leaving all those years ago, his 8-year-old self would have done it. He tried to explain why hiding the map wouldn't end well, but he wasn't sure Aang understood fully.

The talk turned to cooking and hair brushing, which he may or may not have prolonged by lowering the heat of the flame so it took the food longer to cook. Sadly, Bato was used to his hair by now and made short work of straightening the locks out. Then the siblings were up and Spirit couldn't remember being thanked for so many things and ask so many questions all at the same time, and that was including all the small children he had worked with.

Thankfully, the topic was changed to the Southern watertribe coming of age ceremony. Spirit had heard about it from patients in the past, but hearing how Bato was modifying it for warmer waters, he was getting a better picture of what was going to happen. Then, for some odd reason, he was asked to join them. How was he supposed to say no to that honor?

It was fun and exciting. He was briefly worried about the rocks at the end, but having two people who could bend water was helpful to say the least. It was over pretty quickly, leaving just the final ceremony. 

It was going great, he was sharing a proud grin with Katara when Bato gave Aang the mark of the trusted. Of all the times and all the marks, that had to be the one the kid who almost hid the way to the watertribe fleet has to get trust as his mark. Then him being him, he refused the mark, being unworthy of it, which was understandable. 

Then came the yelling and buried memories of his parents fighting. The look on Katara's face as she turned her back was like his mother leaving all over again. Bato and sokka morphed into his last memory of Lu Ten and he and Uncle marched onto the ship heading for the Earth Kingdom. 

Those memories of loneliness and abandonment replayed in his head for a small eternity before he caught Bato's words of comfort. Tearing at those memories he had subconsciously walled off, likely to allow him to cope with the hurt they represented, exhausted him and he just needed a moment to recenter himself. That was clearly a lie he told himself because the next thing he knew, Bato was shaking him awake.

It was Zhao. This was the man who had thrown slurs and obscenities at him for being part Fire Nation. He had planned to use the Yuyan against a 12-year-old kid. If he got any of them, Aang would be captured, broken, and sent to the Caldera as a gift for the Fire Lord. There was no way Spirit was going to let that happen. 

He held back for several reasons during the fight. One, he was not trying to kill his fellow firebender, just incapacitate. Two, he was also dampening the flames so nothing caught fire. Three, he wasn't willing to expose he was a bender in front of everyone. Four, there were things you didn't do in front of nuns, monks, and children.

If they had woken him prior to planning the encounter, things would have gone very differently. He could have taken them out before they arrived, he could have confused the beast a number of ways so the others could escape, he could have gotten the bounty hunter to turn on the Admiral, and there were many other possibilities. Instead of any of those, he was using his swords against a firebender with extreme prejudices. He was glad Sokka's plan worked, but if he hadn't been a firebender, the abbey would have burned to the ground before they finally thought to use the perfume. 

Spirit relished the wind on his face as they flew, allowing the heat of the fight to be whisked away. It was comforting and exhilarating. Sadly, it ended too soon and they started talking about what to do next.

He wasn't sure where he could go from here. Zhao knew he had helped the Avatar, so it wasn't safe for Miyuki and the herbalist for him to go back to his home for the past 3 years. He couldn't risk the lives of the soldiers he had grown close to, fire or earth. Tu Li was expecting again, so her family was not an option. It was too risky to search out Uncle. That left the watertribe, but they had lost so much to the Fire Nation that he couldn't ask them to put up with a firebender, and the Avatar's group, which consisted of two watertribe siblings whose father left them to fight in the war and the only airbender to survive the mass murder of his people by Spirit's great grandfather's decree.

They didn't understand, so he told them straight out. The silence that followed was deafening. He wasn't sure how long it lasted, but it seemed like forever. 

He expected yelling like what Sokka had done when Aang admitted to hiding the map, however briefly, but instead he got asked if he had been containing Zhao's flames. It only made sense it would get worse from there, so he nodded and braced himself for what was bound to follow. There were no angry words or striking movements, just a question.

That one sentence was the last straw and the dam that had been holding back what happened to make him Spirit instead of Zuko burst and he told them every except that he used to be Fire Prince Zuko, son of Ozai and Ursa, and Heir to the throne. He expected a lot of things, but not a full body hug from Sokka or it becoming a group activity. He may have cried and he knew Bato did, but that was fine. 

He hadn't felt this loved since the last time they went to Ember Island with Uncle, Lu Ten, Mai, and Ty Lee. In a way, those four were mirrors of the four hugging him right now. Bato had already been reminding Spirit of Uncle, but Aang was just the airbending equivalent of Ty Lee in so many ways. Sokka was the same distant, but caring that Mai embodied when they were kids, not that he could imagine her growing out of it with parents like hers. And Katara was a cheerful, hard working, supportive soul like Lu Ten had been.

Their warmth and care was so familiar to him and it took him until the end of the hairbrushing for him to realize that hug was like the loving cuddles Miyuki always gave him when his mind turned to dark thoughts. He had been adopted, again. It was nice.

Knowing they were family now made it easier to part from Bato than it had been two days before. Then, he had thought he would be forgotten as soon as the warrior was reunited with his friends in the fleet, but now, he knew they were closer than that and the goodbyes they said today were not forever. They would be together again before too long.

Besides, he had the hair tie to remember him by if something were to happen. Like the double dao Lu Ten had gotten him when they started training together under the same master or the Earth Kingdom knife from Uncle. It was the same reason he hadn't cut off the hair his mother had loved. It was solid proof his memories were real and not a dream his fevered mind had created. Evidence that he was loved and had family who cared about him.

He couldn't ask for more as they flew away, leaving Bato and bad feelings behind. He was a new, freer person. One unhindered by secret abilities and invisible scars. One who had a family for the first time in five years.

'(•V•)'

Back in the greenhouse on the top of a hill in the midst of a ruined village, Miyuki flicked her tail smugly. Her kitten found its place. She knew her kitten would find other kittens to guide. 

That kitten had a lot of work to do and so did she. That mangy dog had gone after her kitten twice now, it was time he felt a mother's wrath. He wouldn't even understand what was happening. 

She was a healing spirit and everyone knows that the scariest thing in the world is a healer who is willing to do harm. They were efficient and could drag it out as long as they wanted. She had all the time in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Sokka's mental picture of Spirit in War paint inspired by joyousawakening's "Zuko in Water Tribe war paint"
> 
> https://joyousawakening.tumblr.com/post/629306245019566080/zuko-in-water-tribe-war-paint-a-collage-inspired


End file.
